"We're excited about being able to participate in this pilot study," he said.

Conducting elections by mail is expected to increase voter participation and cut costs, he noted.

The turnout was 26 percent for a mail-ballot election in May 2011 to fill a vacancy on the Board of Supervisors created after he was elected assessor-county clerk-recorder, Church said. In contrast, a traditional election held in April 1997 to fill a board seat after Ted Lempert was elected to the Assembly generated a 15.6 percent turnout, Church said.

The pilot project requires that every registered voter receive a ballot in the mail along with a ballot return envelope with prepaid postage. But the county must also provide at least one polling place and drop-off location in each of its cities for those who don't receive a ballot, want to submit their ballot on Election Day, or prefer to vote in person.

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"This bill presents a wonderful opportunity for San Mateo County voters," Mullin said in a written statement. "Our county already has a strong history of voting by mail and this pilot program will provide important voter turnout information from an urban county with a widely diverse population."

Church said he'd like to see all of the county's cities and special districts implement a mail-ballot election by November 2015, but the decision is up to them.

"We'll have to educate them, as well as citizens, as to what this new legislation means," Church said. "Hopefully we can get everyone to participate."

The purpose of the test program is to collect data and pass it on to state legislators, including breakdowns based on race, ethnicity, age, gender, disability and political party affiliation.

Yolo County, which conducted its first mail-ballot election in March 2013, found that while the turnout was "not significantly different than the polling place elections," there was a 43 percent cost savings, according to a report released by its elections office.